Tigers no-hit by Miami’s Alvarez

Miami's Henderson Alvarez, right, celebrates after striking out Detroit's Matt Tuiasosopo for the last out of the ninth inning in Miami. Alvarez pitched a no-hitter as the Marlins won 1-0. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

With their post-season slot already decided as AL Central champions and a matchup against the Oakland A’s to begin Friday in Oakland, the Tigers watched the other team do all the celebrating Sunday.

Miami’s Henderson Alvarez pitched a no-hitter and the Marlins scored in the bottom of the ninth to win 1-0.

The only run scored when Luke Putkonen threw a wild pitch with two out and the bases loaded in the ninth.

The Marlins mobbed Alvarez, who had been standing in the on-deck circle because he was due to bat next.

The Tigers played with a patchwork lineup but didn’t begrudge Alvarez or the Marlins for celebrating.

“It was exciting for them and it was very special for him, so you have to be happy for that, no matter what side you’re on,” Tigers infielder Hernan Perez said.

“Any time a guy gets a no-hitter there should be a big celebration.”

The no-hitter was the first for the Marlins since Anibal Sanchez — now with the Tigers — threw one in 2006 against Arizona. Sanchez watched from the visitors’ dugout as fellow Venezuelan Alvarez celebrated the feat.

“It was great to be a part of such an exciting moment for this guy,” Sanchez said.

Detroit’s Justin Verlander struck out 10 in six scoreless innings in his final tuneup for the playoffs.

With the Tigers’ playoff slot settled, they rested four starters and had pulled three others by the seventh inning. Miguel Cabrera, who won his third consecutive batting title, never stepped to the plate.

Prior to the game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland acknowledged he and his players were already thinking ahead.

“I want to play this game, I want to win this game, but I want to get this over with and get home,” Leyland said. “Guys are anxious. They want to get to the post-season.”

The A’s closed out the regular season with a 9-0 win over Seattle.

Oakland manager Bob Melvin gave a few of his starters the finale off while some others made cameos before getting a rest before beginning the post-season.

“We have a bigger goal right now and that is to go deep in the playoffs and probably didn’t want anything freak to happen on a day like today,” Donaldson said.

Oakland is likely to start 18-game winner Bartolo Colon in Game 1 and from there they have a multitude of options.

There’s Jarrod Parker (12-8), Sonny Gray (5-3), Tommy Milone (12-9), Dan Straily (10-8) and A.J. Griffin (14-10) all serving as options that Melvin can use to fill out his rotation for the remainder of the series.

“If my name gets called I’ll definitely be ready,” Gray said.

Also Sunday, Tampa Bay and Texas both won and wound up even, forcing a tiebreaker for the second AL wild-card spot.

The Rays will play at Texas Monday night with the winner visiting Cleveland Wednesday night in another all-or-nothing matchup.

Rangers rookie Martin Perez starts against reigning AL Cy Young winner David Price.
Texas gets a boost, too — All-Star slugger Nelson Cruz will be active after his 50-game penalty from Major League Baseball in the Biogenesis drug scandal.

“He’s served his suspension,” Rays star Evan Longoria said. “It is what it is. Justice has been served.”

Asked if he expected to play, Cruz said: “I think so.”

It will be baseball’s first tiebreaker — officially, this is a regular-season game and the stats count — since Minnesota beat Detroit 6-5 in 12 innings for the 2009 AL Central title.

What was supposed to be the final day of the regular season began with the possibility of a three-way tie for a pair of AL wild-card spots.

Instead, Cleveland clinched its first post-season berth since 2007, winning 5-1 at Minnesota to finish at 92-70 and one game ahead of Texas and Tampa Bay as the top wild card.

Nick Swisher homered as the Indians became the first big league team to win their final 10 regular-season games since Baltimore closed with 11 straight victories in 1971, STATS said.

“I’m telling you, we’re bringing that wild-card game back to the 216 and that place is going to be packed out and rockin’, baby!” Swisher said, citing Cleveland’s area code.

Rookie Danny Salazar is set to start for the Indians against either Texas or Tampa Bay.

The NL playoff scene is settled. Johnny Cueto starts for Cincinnati against Francisco Liriano and the Pirates at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night in the NL wild-card playoff.

In the best-of-five division series, the Los Angeles Dodgers start at Atlanta and the NL wild-card winner is at St. Louis.

Lively discourse is the lifeblood of any healthy democracy and The Star encourages readers to engage in robust debates about our stories. But, please, avoid personal attacks and keep your comments respectful and relevant. If you encounter abusive comments, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. The Star is Using Facebook Comments. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Sports Highlights

OAK9SFG4FINAL

PHI5NYY5FINAL

TOR7PIT8FINAL

BOS2NEASTERN1FINAL

BOS1BOSTONCOLL0FINAL

MIA7MIAFLA1FINAL

DET15BAL2FINAL

ARI20Bottom 6 Inning

CIN10CLE0FINAL

CHA0LAL07:00 PM

CLE0BOS07:00 PM

ATL0HOU07:30 PM

CHI0WAS08:00 PM

MEM0UTA08:00 PM

DEN0MIL09:00 PM

NYK0SAC07:00 PM

NJD0NAS00 Period

PHI0CAL00 Period

CLB0WAS00 Period

TAM0BUF07:30 PM

FLA0TOR07:30 PM

MIN0OTT08:00 PM

DAL0NYI08:30 PM

ARI0ANA09:00 PM

EDM0LOS09:30 PM

VAN0SJS010:00 PM

Connect With Us

Sports Tweets

More Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf is demanding a formal apology from TSN as well as a "significant amount of damages" after the all-sports network aired an inflammatory fan tweet about Phaneuf's wife and one of his teammates during Monday's NHL trade deadline coverage.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez ran into trouble early Tuesday as the Blue Jays opened their Grapefruit League schedule with an 8-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pedro Alvarez, Jung Ho Kang and Elias Diaz homered for the […]

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Tick, tock, baseball is on the clock. Major League Baseball’s new pace of play rules have begun with Tuesday’s exhibition games in Arizona and Florida. The subtle changes are designed to speed a game long embraced for […]

CALGARY — Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock strengthened his grip on second place at the Tim Hortons Brier with a 7-4 victory over New Brunswick’s Jeremy Mallais at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Laycock improved to 4-1 after eight draws of round-robin play at […]